willoyd

Welcome to my reading blog for 2021. This thread is now open!

Thank you. They (the links) can wait awhile.

Yes, I'm trying to (a) link from my new reading blog to a page on the old one (b) link from my signature to my new reading blog (c) link from the first post on my reading blog to other posts within the same thread. All three do the same thing. I've just found the thread on Forum updates, and I think it's Athena who says that she can't embed links into her posts - is that the same issue?

I've tried several times to insert a link into a post, using the link tool. Every time I get message saying 'unable to load content". Same if I try to edit links in my signature. Any advice please?

Accolades for 2020 Book of the Year 1. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell 2. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens 3. Island Stories by David Reynolds Fiction Book of the Year Winner: Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell Runner-up: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Shortlist: The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich Nathan Coulter by Wendell Berry All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton Non-fiction Book of the Year Winner: Island Stories by David Reynolds Runner-up: Home by Julie Myerson Shortlist: Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere by Jan Morris A Game of Birds and Wolves by Simon Parkin The Summer Isles by Philip Marsden Duffer of the Year Winner: Gold by Chris Cleave Shortlist The House by Simon Lelic The One Hundred Year Old Man Who... by Jonas Jonasson Discovery of the Year Wendell Berry Most Disappointing of the Year A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson Reread of the Year Mrs Dalloway / The Hours by Virginia Woolf / Michael Cunningham (the combination is what made it the reread of the year - fascinating)

Review of 2020, Preview of 2021 I started off my 2019 review with the words 'It was a funny old year'. Little did I know! If 2019 was a funny old year, then 2020 was completely bonkers - which is probably a fair summary! It's funny to look back and think that at the time I was writing, things were already brewing in China.... Certainly, my reading was massively affected by the advent of the coronavirus, although not in quite the way that I thought it would. I read more because of it - that much was to be expected. Having got the year off to one of my slowest starts in years (just 8 books and 2700 pages in the first 3 months), 2020 landed up with my highest calendar year book total ever (84), and a respectable 22200 pages, on a par with most recent years. Perhaps rather less expected was that I found myself shying away from the bigger, chunkier tomes that I thought I would enjoy most in lockdown conditions, and wanting to stick to a succession of relatively short, sharp reads. Whilst in previous years my average page per book count was in the high 200s, even just over 300 on one occasion, this year it dropped to a smidgen under 265. The bulk of the longer books that I did read in the second half of the year were book group reads - and a few of those were skim read just to get through them. Other trends or features of the year included an almost exact repeat of 2019 in both the quantitative and qualitative balance between fiction and non-fiction: about half-and-half in numbers, but the ongoing 'comeback' of fiction when it came to the accolades. Comfortable favourite read of the year was Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet, the only new 6-star read of the year. What on earth afflicted the Booker judges' minds to leave it of even the long list I have no idea - it beggars belief, and left me disinclined to take any note of what they did go for - we were obviously on a completely different wavelength. Female writers continued to represent around 40% of my reading, e-books around 20%. What surprised me was that library books dropped from a quarter to a fifth of my reading - I really expected for them to rise. Lockdown didn't prevent me from having a large stack available, but it seems that my own library simply appealed more. That may also tie in with the fact that one in five books since the start of the first lockdown have been rereads, an unusually high proportion. In terms of my various challenges, last year's words 'some progress was made on most fronts, but in all cases it would be good to have done more' apply again. The pace picked up slightly on my Tour of the USA, with 5 more books read (one more than last year, which was double the previous year), putting me now on 20 of the 51 read. What the tour is achieving is in finding some great new (at least to me!) writers to read more of: Wendell Berry and Louise Erdrich in particular are two whose writing I want to explore further, just as I have started to do with (for instance) Willa Cather from last year. I also read at least one book from each of my other lists. Part of the reason for this slowness is probably because of book group commitments. I joined yet another book group this year, bringing the total to three. It has proved to be one of the most enjoyable, with a range of books that I've found especially stimulating, even if I haven't necessarily 'enjoyed' specific books - a group of people from whom I have learned much in discussion. Zoom has been a godsend, with all three groups managing to meet regularly as a result, although one has been touch and go. Although this may seem like overload, I do really enjoy the opportunity to discuss books I've read with other people, especially given the lack of other social/cultural activities available, and love the variety of viewpoints - meetings where we're all in agreement are the most boring! I also like the variety of reading it encourages me to do, and with 3 books at most per month that usually still leaves time for my own choice of reading. One other trend this year for me: an increased interest in podcasts. I've been exploring a number of literary podcasts, but have really only come up with one I found particularly satisfying: Slightly Foxed's monthly edition. Most others are too focused on contemporary fiction for my taste. The one exception has been 'Backlisted', which on paper looks great, but it is at the same time, and rather paradoxically, too laddish and too intense about the books involved, many of which are of absolutely no interest. I can't find a podcast about nonfiction reading anywhere, yet that represents half of my reading. I continue to work on that, but thank goodness for Slightly Foxed! So, what of next year? In recent years, I've been a bit whiffly about goals, and to some extent it's going to be the same again this year. Given that I didn't get close to achieving what I set out to do last year, they will almost inevitably echo those I set last year, which in turn echoed previous years! Maybe I might manage them better this year? Anyway, here goes: + To read more of the books I really want to read to include: + To complete my reading of the Dickens novels and to read at least a quarter of the Rougon-Macquart sequence. + To make significant inroads into the Tour of the USA + To read more natural history + To increase the proportion of library books read, aiming for at least 25% (hoping to reduce buying!). The first sounds a bit vague, but it's actually not - there's an increasing list of books that I've found I really want to read, but never seem to get around to because of other distractions. Most are fairly big reads requiring concentration and time. I need to give both to them, particularly to those on my 'Big Reads' list. It will also mean that the total number of books will almost inevitably come down so a final challenge: + To average more than 300 pages per book, and read at least 24000 pages. I've tended to avoid putting numbers on goals before, but maybe a change is in order?

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Big Reads I've got a long list of books I want to read, many of them pretty chunky, but there are a few which are particularly big, humungous even, usually multi-volumed and thus tend to get put off and put off; generally, they will have a minimum of 800 pages. So a list to keep prodding me. Will any, even single volumes, get read this year??! Ackroyd, Peter: Dickens and London The Biography Barker, Juliet: The Brontes Barzun, Jacques: From Dawn to Decadence Braudel, Fernand: The Identify of France (2v) and The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World (3v) Cervantes, Miguel de: Don Quixote Gibbon, Edward: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (6v) Evans. Richard: The Third Reich trilogy Fisher, HAL: A History of Europe (3v) Foote, Shelby: The American Civil War (3v) Grossman, Vassily: Stalingrad and Life and Fate Herodotus: The Histories Hugo, Victor: Les Miserables Inwood, Stephen: A History of London Johnson, Paul: Birth of the Modern Kershaw, Ian Hitler Lawrence, TE: The Seven Pillars of Wisdom Macauley, Thomas Babington: The History of England (5v) MacCulloch, Diarmid: A History of Christianity Mantel, Hilary: Thomas Cromwell trilogy Morris, Jan: Pax Britannica trilogy Muir, Rory: Wellington (2v) Pepys, Samuel: The Diaries (9v!) Powell, Anthony: A Dance to the Music of Time (12 books in 4v) Richie, Alexandra: Faust's Metropolis Roberts, Andrew: Salisbury, Napoleon the Great and Churchill Roberts, JM: The History of the World and Twentieth Century Sassoon, Donald: The Culture of the Europeans Sugden, John: Nelson (2v) Sumption, Jonathan:The Hundred Years' War (4v) Watson, Peter: Ideas A History and A Terrible Beauty Woolf, Virginia: The Essays, The Letters and The Diaries (6v each)

Some Stats The Last 10 Years (to end 2020) Books read - 683 (384 in the past 5 years) Most books in a year - 84 (2020) Fewest books in a year - 50 (2011) Most pages in a year - 23626 (2018) Most books in a month - 19 (Dec 2011) Highest average month - 13.7 (December) Lowest average month - 3.5 (February) % Fiction / Non-Fiction - 65 / 35 % Male / Female author - 58 / 42 Star ratings 1 - 27 (3.9%, including 0 rereads) 2 - 56 (8.1%, 0 rereads) 3 - 184 (26.6%, 12 rereads) 4 - 225 (32.3%, 9 rereads) 5 - 133 (19.4%, 15 rereads) 6 - 67 (9.7%, 30 rereads) 2020 figures Books read - 84 (2019-75) Most books in a month - 12 (April and December) Fewest books in a month - 2 (February) Pages in the year - 22192 (264 average per book) Most pages - 832 (The Luminaries) Fewest pages - 66 (Wing) % Fiction / Non-Fiction - 51 / 49 % Male / Female author - 63 / 37 % Paper / Electronic - 81 / 18 (1 audiobook this year) % Owned / Borrowed (inc Library) - 81/ 19 Star ratings 1 - 2 (2.4%, 0 rereads) 2 - 4 (4.7%, 0 rereads) 3 - 17 (20.0%, 0 rereads) 4 - 29 (38.8%, 1 reread) 5 - 26 (25.9%, 1 reread) 6 - 7 (8.2%, 3 rereads) TBR list End of... 2017 - 1472 2018 - 1378 2019 - 1331 2020 - 1351

Fiction focus Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series CJ Sansom's Shardlake series Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti series Georges Simenon's Maigret books Books in standard blue are those read, a red cross indicates read during 2021. Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series 01. Master and Commander 02. Post Captain 03. HMS Surprise 04. The Mauritius Command 05. Desolation Island 06. The Fortune of War 07. The Surgeon's Mate 08. The Ionian Mission 09. Treason's Harbour 10. The Far Side of the World 11. The Reverse of the Medal 12. The Letter of Marque 13. The Thirteen Gun Salute 14. The Nutmeg of Consolation 15. Clarissa Oakes 16. The Wine-Dark Sea 17. The Commodore 18. The Yellow Admiral 19. The Hundred Days 20. Blue at the Mizzen CJ Sansom's Shardlake series 01. Dissolution (2003) 02. Dark Fire (2004) 03. Sovereign (2006) 04. Revelation (2008) 05. Heartstone (2010) 06. Lamentation (2014) 07. Tombland (2018) Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti series 01. Death at La Fenice (1992) 02. Death in a Strange Country (1993) 03. The Anonymous Venetian (1994) 04. A Venetian Reckoning (1995) 05. Acqua Alta (1996) 06. The Death of Faith (1997) 07. A Noble Radiance (1997) 08. Fatal Remedies (1999) 09. Friends in High Places (2000) 10. A Sea of Troubles (2001) + 11. Wilful Behaviour (2002) 12. Uniform Justice (2003) 13. Doctored Evidence (2004) 14. Blood from a Stone (2005) 15. Through a Glass, Darkly (2006) 16. Suffer the Little Children (2007) 17. The Girl of His Dreams (2008) 18. About Face (2009) 19. A Question of Belief (2010) 20. Drawing Conclusions (2011) 21. Beastly Things (2012) 22. The Golden Egg (2013) 23. By Its Cover (2014) 24. Falling in Love (2015) 25. The Waters of Eternal Youth (2016) 26. Earthly Remains (2017) 27. The Temptation of Forgiveness (2018) 28. Unto Us A Son Is Given (2019) Georges Simenon's Maigret novels 1-27 read prior to 2021 28. Maigret's Holiday 29. Maigret's Dead Man 30. Maigret's First Case 31. My Friend Maigret 32. Maigret at the Coroner's 33. Maigret and the Old Lady 34. Madame Maigret's Friend 35. Maigret's Memoirs 36. Maigret at Picratt's 37. Maigret Takes a Room 38. Maigret and the Tall Woman 39. Maigret, Lognon and the Gangsters 40. Maigret's Revolver 41. Maigret and the Man on the Bench 42. Maigret is Afraid 43. Maigret's Mistake 44. Maigret Goes to School 45. Maigret and the Dead Girl 46. Maigret and the Minister 47. Maigret and the Headless Corpse 48. Maigret Sets a Trap 49. Maigret's Failure 50. Maigret Enjoys Himself 51. Maigret Travels 52. Maigret's Doubts 53. Maigret and the Reluctant Witnesses 54. Maigret's Secret 55. Maigret in Court 56. Maigret and the Old People 57. Maigret and the Lazy Burglar 58. Maigret and the Good People of Montparnasse 59. Maigret and the Saturday Caller 60. Maigret and the Tramp 61. Maigret's Anger 62. Maigret and the Ghost 63. Maigret Defends Himself 64. Maigret's Patience + 65. Maigret and the Nahour Case 66. Maigret's Pickpocket 67. Maigret Hesitates 68. Maigret in Vichy 69. Maigret's Childhood Friend 70. Maigret and the Killer 71. Maigret and the Wine Merchant + 72. Maigret's Madwoman 73. Maigret and the Loner 74. Maigret and the Informer 75. Maigret and Monsieur Charles

Classics fiction Two authors whose books I want to focus more on: Charles Dickens Emile Zola's Rougon-Macquart series Charles Dickens 01. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (1837) **** 02. The Adventures of Oliver Twist (1839) ***** 03. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1839) ***** 04. The Old Curiosity Shop (1841) *** 05. Barnaby Rudge (1841) 06. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) 07. Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son (1848) 08. The Personal History of David Copperfield (1850) ****** 09. Bleak House (1853) ****** 10. Hard Times (1854) 11. Little Dorrit (1857) 12. A Tale of Two Cities (1859) ***** 13. Great Expectations (1861) **** 14. Our Mutual Friend (1865) 15. The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870) The Christmas Books 16. A Christmas Carol (1843) ****** 17. The Chimes (1844) *** 18. The Cricket on the Hearth (1845) **** + 19. The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (1846) Emile Zola's Rougon-Macquart Series 01. La Fortune des Rougon **** 02. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon 03. La Curee 04. L'Argent 05. Le Reve 06. La Conquete de Plassans 07. Pot-Bouille 08. Au Bonheur des Dames ***** + 09. La Faute de L'Abbe Mouret 10. Une Page d'amour 11. Le Ventre de Paris 12. La Joie de vivre 13. L'Assommoir 14. L'Oeuvre 15. La Bete humaine 16. Germinal 17. Nana 18. La Terre 19. La Debacle 20. Le Docteur Pascal

A Tour of the States My experience of American literature being much narrower than I would like, I decided to take a tour of the states in a similar way to our own English Counties challenge: 51 books, one set in each of the American states (including Washington DC). In fact, the English Counties was modelled on an American States challenge here, but in the spirit of broadening that experience, I have amended it using these rules: a. it must be fiction; b. an author can only appear once; c. published after 1900 (what I've read has been predominantly 19th century); d. adult books; e. no rereads. Inevitably some great books and authors will have been left off, but the process itself has already helped identify those holes, and I aim to fill them in as additional reading! Blue means read, a red cross at the end of the entry means read this year. 24/51 The Keepers of the House - Shirley Ann Grau (Alabama) ***** To The Bright Edge of the World - Eowyn Ivey (Alaska) ****** The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver (Arizona) **** The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks - Donald Harington (Arkansas) East of Eden - John Steinbeck (California) Plainsong - Kent Haruf (Colorado) **** Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates (Connecticut) The Book of Unknown Americans - Cristina Henriquez (Delaware) Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurst (Florida) The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers (Georgia) The Descendants - Kaui Hart Hemmings (Hawaii) Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson (Idaho) **** The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow (Illinois) The Stone Diaries - Carol Shields (Indiana) ***** + The Bridges of Madison County - Robert Waller (Iowa) **** Not Without Laughter - Langston Hughes (Kansas) Nathan Coultar - Wendell Berry (Kentucky) ***** All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren (Louisiana) Empire Falls - Richard Russo (Maine) Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant - Anne Tyler (Maryland) *** Ethan Frome- Edith Wharton (Massachusetts) *** Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison (Michigan) ***** + Main Street - Sinclair Lewis (Minnesota) As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner (Mississippi) Mrs Bridge - Evan S. Connell (Missouri) ***** + A River Runs Through It - Norman Maclean (Montana) My Antonia - Willa Cather (Nebraska) ***** The Ox-Bow Incident - Walter van Tilburg Clark (Nevada) Peyton Place - Grace Metallious (New Hampshire) The Sportswriter - Richard Ford (New Jersey) **** Cities of the Plain - Cormac McCarthy (New Mexico) Underworld - Don DeLillo (New York) Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier (North Carolina) ***** The Plague of Doves - Louise Erdrich (North Dakota) ***** Winesburg, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson (Ohio) *** True Grit- Charles Portis (Oklahoma) **** Trask - Don Berry (Oregon) The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara (Pennsylvania) The Witches of Eastwick - John Updike (Rhode Island) *** + The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd (South Carolina) *** Welcome to Hard Times - EL Doctorow (South Dakota) Shiloh - Shelby Foote (Tennessee) Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry (Texas) ****** The Nineteenth Wife - David Ebershoff (Utah) The Secret History - Donna Tartt (Vermont) The Confessions of Nat Turner - William Styron (Virginia) Snow Falling on Cedars- David Guterson (Washington) *** Advise and Consent - Allen Drury (Washington DC) ***** Storming Heaven - Denise Giardina (West Virginia) The Art of Fielding - Chad Harbach (Wisconsin) The Virginian - Owen Wister (Wyoming) ***** +

Favourite authors To qualify for this list, I have to have read at least three books by that author (amazing how many where I've just read two, especially non-fiction!), so no one-book wonders (it's the book then, not the author!). None of the books themselves need to have reached a six star rating, but they do need to have been rated consistently highly. I've only included authors of adult books - for favourite children's authors, see favourite book list, as the two lists are pretty much the same. Fiction Jane Austen JL Carr Willa Cather Charles Dickens Sarah Dunant Margaret Elphinstone Thomas Hardy Donna Leon Patrick O'Brian Georges Simenon Virginia Woolf Non-Fiction Tim Clayton Lisa Jardine Jan Morris Simon Schama Claire Tomalin Jenny Uglow Both Melissa Harrison

Favourite Books A record of the 130 books and series to which I've given my top rating. These aren't necessarily the best literature I've read, but the books that are personal favourites, that, for whatever reason, struck a special chord in my reading. Individual books within a series are likely to have scored less, but the rating is for the series as a whole. The lists are divided into Fiction Non-fiction Joint fiction/non-fiction Children's fiction Fiction (78) Ackroyd, Peter: Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem Ackroyd, Peter: Hawksmoor Austen, Jane: Sense and Sensibility Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice Austen, Jane: Emma Buchan, John: John Macnab Carr JL: A Month in the Country Carr JL: The Harpole Report Chaucer, Geoffrey: The Canterbury Tales Chevalier, Tracey: Falling Angels Childers, Erskine: The Riddle of the Sands Collins, Norman: London Belongs To Me Cooper, Susan: The Dark is Rising Cunningham, Michael: The Hours Davies, Martin: The Conjuror's Bird Dickens, Charles: A Christmas Carol Dickens, Charles: Bleak House Dickens, Charles: David Copperfield Dunant, Sarah: In the Company of the Courtesan Eco, Umberto: The Name of the Rose Eliot, George: Middlemarch Elphinstone, Margaret: The Sea Road Elphinstone, Margaret: Voyageurs Evaristo, Bernardine: Girl, Woman, Other Fforde, Jasper: The Eyre Affair Goscinny, Rene: Asterix in Britain Greig, Andrew: The Return of John Macnab Guareschi, Giovanni: The Don Camillo series Haddon, Mark: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Hardy, Thomas: Far From The Madding Crowd Herbert, Frank: Dune Heyer, Georgette: The Grand Sophy Holtby, Winifred: South Riding Horwood, William: The Stonor Eagles Horwood, William: Skallagrig Hulme, Keri: The Bone People Ivey, Eowyn: To the Bright Edge of the World Japrisot, Sebastian: A Very Long Engagement Le Carre, John: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Lee, Harper: To Kill A Mockingbird Leon, Donna: The Commissario Brunetti series Mantel, Hilary: Wolf Hall McMurtry, Larry: Lonesome Dove Melville, Herman: Moby Dick Miller, Andrew: Pure Miller, Andrew: Now We Shall Be Entirely Free Mitchell, David: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet Monsarrat, Nicholas: The Cruel Sea Moorcock, Michael: Mother London O'Brian, Patrick: The Aubrey-Maturin series O'Farrell, Maggie: Hamnet Pears, Ian: An Instance of the Fingerpost Penney, Stef: The Tenderness of Wolves Perry, Sarah: The Essex Serpent Proulx, Annie: The Shipping News Roffey, Monique: The Mermaid of Black Conch Rushdie, Salman: Midnight's Children Seth, Vikram: A Suitable Boy Simenon, Georges: The Inspector Maigret series Smiley, Jane: A Thousand Acres Smith, Dodie: I Capture the Castle Steinbeck, John: Of Mice and Men Stephenson, Neal: Cryptonomicon Stevenson, Robert Louis: Kidnapped Swift, Graeme: Waterland Taylor, Elizabeth: A View of the Harbour Thomas, Dylan: Under Milk Wood Thompson, Harry: This Thing of Darkness Tolkien JRR: The Lord of the Rings Tolstoy, Leo: War and Peace Waugh, Evelyn: Brideshead Revisited Willis, Connie: To Say Nothing of the Dog Woolf, Virginia: Mrs Dalloway Woolf, Virginia: The Years Woolf, Virginia: To The Lighthouse Woolf, Virginia: Between the Acts Woolfenden, Ben: The Ruins of Time Zafon, Carlos Ruiz: The Shadow of the Wind Non-fiction (43) Blanning, Tim: The Pursuit of Glory Brown, Hamish: Hamish's Mountain Walk Clayton, Tim: Waterloo Cocker, Mark: Crow Country Fadiman, Anne: Ex Libris Frater, Alexander: Chasing the Monsoon Gogarty, Paul: The Water Road Hanff, Helen: 84 Charing Cross Road Harding, Thomas: The House By The Lake Harrison, Melissa: The Stubborn Light of Things Hastings, Max: All Hell Let Loose Holland, James: Dam Busters Hoskins, WG: The Making of the English Landscape Howell, Georgina: Daughter of the Desert Huntford, Roland: Shackleton Jamie, Kathleen: Findings Junger, Sebastian: The Perfect Storm Lee, Hermione: Virginia Woolf Lewis-Stempel, John: The Running Hare Liptrot, Amy: The Outrun Longford, Elizabeth: Wellington, The Years of the Sword Macdonald, Benedict & Nicholas Gates: Orchard MacDonald, Helen: Vesper Flights MacGregor, Neil: Germany, Memories of a Nation Moore, Richard: In Search of Robert Millar Nichols, Peter: A Voyage for Madmen Nicolson, Adam: The Seabird's Cry Pennac, Daniel: The Rights of the Reader Pinker, Stephen: The Language Instinct Rackham, Oliver: The History of the Countryside de Saint-Exupery, Antoine: Wind, Sand and Stars Salisbury, Laney and Gay: The Cruellest Miles Sands, Philippe: East-West Street Schumacher, EF: Small is Beautiful Simpson, Joe: Touching the Void Taylor, Stephen: Storm and Conquest Tomalin, Claire: Pepys, The Unequalled Self Tree, Isabella: Wilding Uglow, Jenny: The Pinecone Unsworth, Walt: Everest Weldon, Fay: Letters to Alice on first reading Jane Austen Wheeler, Sara: Terra Incognita Young, Gavin: Slow Boats to China Joint fiction/non-fiction (1) Klinkenborg, Verlyn: Timothy's Book with Townsend-Warner, Sylvia: Portrait of a Tortoise Children's Fiction (8) Berna, Paul: Flood Warning Bond, Michael: The Paddington Bear series Kipling, Rudyard: Puck of Pook's Hill/Rewards and Fairies Milne, AA: Winnie-the-Pooh/House at Pooh Corner Pullman, Philip: Northern Lights Ransome, Arthur: The Swallows and Amazons series Sutcliff, Rosemary: The Eagle of the Ninth White, TH: Mistress Masham's Repose

Book List 2021 Previous book lists: 2009, 2010-2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 January 01. Wake by Anna Hope G **** 02. Man at the Helm by Nina Stibbe G ** 03. Body Surfing by Anita Shreve G * 04. Au Bonheur des Dames by Emile Zola G ***** 05. Watling Street by John Higgs *** 06. Spoon Fed by Tim Spector **** 07. Bringing Back the Beaver by Derek Gow ***** 08. George I, The Lucky King by Tim Blanning **** February 09. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman **** 10. The Motion of a Body through Space by Lionel Shriver G * 11. A Short History of Europe by Simon Jenkins **** 12. Hillaby's London by John Hillaby *** 13. The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain *** 14. The Second Sleep by Robert Harris G **** 15. The Mermaid of the Black Conch by Monique Roffey G ****** March 16. The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste GX ** 17. The Ash Tree by Oliver Rackham **** 18. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle R ***** 19. Birdsong in a Time of Silence by Steven Lovatt ***** 20. Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear by Lev Pariakin **** 21. The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike *** 22. Touche by Agnes Poirier ** 23. Gilbert White by Richard Mabey ***** XX. Tidelands by Philippa Gregory GX ** 24. The Stubborn Light of Things by Melissa Harrison ****** 25. Seven Kinds of People You Find In Bookshops by Sean Bythell *** April 26. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison GU ***** 27. Blood and Iron by Katya Hoyer **** 28. Travels in Scottish Islands - The Hebrides by Kirstie Jareg **** 29. Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver *** 30. Skylarks with Rosie by Stephen Moss **** 31. All Among The Barley by Melissa Harrison G ***** 32. Nineteenth-Century Britain by Christopher Harvie & H Matthew *** 33. Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald ****** May 34. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim **** 35. Pere Goriot by Honore de Balzac G **** 36. Balzac's Pere Goriot by David Bellos *** 37. The Screaming Sky by Charles Morris ***** 38. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend-Warner **** 39. Less than Angels by Barbara Pym ***** June 40. Where the Crawdad Sings by Delia Owens G *** 41. What's Left of Me is Yours by Stephanie Scott G *** 42. Native by Patrick Laurie **** 43. Days Without End by Sebastian Barry G *** 44. Miss Austen by Gill Hornby ***** 45. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo ** July 46. The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham G **** 47. A General Theory of Oblivion by Jose Eduardo Agualusa G **** 48. Why Women Read Fiction by Helen Taylor ** 49. The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks G ***** 50. Fast After Fifty by Joe Friel *** 51. Ventoux by Bert Wagendorp **** 52. Airhead by Emily Maitlis **** 53. The Feast by Margaret Kennedy ***** 54. Origins of the First and Second World Wars by Frank McDonough *** August 55. The Bumble Bee Flies Anyway by Kate Bradbury ** 56. On the Map by Simon Garfield **** 57. Bestsellers by John Sutherland *** 58. The Singing Sands by Josephine Tey **** 59. What the Fat? Sports Performance by Grant Schofield et al R *** 60. Sixty Degrees North by Malachy Tallack **** September 61. Chastise by Max Hastings **** 62. The Pitards by Georges Simenon ***** 63. Woodston, The Biography of an English Farm by John Lewis-Stempel **** 64. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields GU ***** 65. Mrs Bridge by Evan S. Connell U ***** 66. Maigret's Patience by Georges Simenon ***** October 67. Conundrum by Jan Morris G **** 68. To Be Continued by James Robertson G *** 69. Orchard by Benedict Macdonald and Nicholas Gates ****** 70. Why The Dutch Are Different by Ben Coates **** 71. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson G *** 72. Wyken, The Life Of A Small Suffolk Estate by Kenneth Carlisle **** November 73. The Great Level by Stella Tillyard ***** 74. Waterland by Graham Swift R ****** 75. The Mystery of Henri Pick by David Foenkinos *** 76. Elegy for a River by Tom Moorhouse **** 77. The Great Flood by Edward Platt **** 78. Migration by Melissa Mayntz *** 79. Summerwater by Sarah Moss G **** 80. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf **** December 81. Thin Air by Michelle Paver G **** 82. How To Argue With A Racist by Adam Rutherford ** 83. Dark Matter by Michelle Paver R ***** 84. The Virginian by Owen Wister U ***** 85. Through The Woods by HE Bates *****(*) 86. The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens **** 87. The Holy Roman Empire, A Short History by Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger *** 88. The Portrait of a Tortoise by Sylvia Townsend-Warner and Gilbert White ****** (joint) 89. Timothy's Book by Verlyn Klinkenborg ****** (joint) 90. Death of an Avid Reader by Frances Brody ***** 91. A Sea of Troubles by Donna Leon **** 92. Maigret and the Wine Merchant by Georges Simenon **** Ratings * Positively disliked this (probably a lot), likely to be unfinished. ** Not really for me: didn't really engage with or like this, may be unfinished or skimmed. *** OK: decent enough read, but not unputdownable. **** Good: into the realms of not wanting to put it down. ***** Excellent: outstanding, even if not quite a favourite. ****** A favourite: something makes this special, even if only personal to me. A=audiobook, G=Reading group read, R=reread, U=USA States Challenge read, X=unfinished

Thread Contents Please note, none of the links currently work owing to a problem with software. Post number 02. Book List 2021 03. Favourite books 04. Favourite authors 05. Tour of the United States 06. Classic fiction: Dickens, Zola 07. Fiction: O'Brian, Sansom, Leon, Simenon 08. Some stats 09. Big Reads 10. spare 11. spare 12. spare 13. spare 14. 2020 review, 2021 preview 15. Accolades for 2020

I have just finished my first book of the year (well, half of it was read today!): a reading group choice - Wake by Anna Hope. I have to admit, I took this one up reluctantly, but in one of those hoped for classic reading group twists, found that my misgivings were completely unfounded, and that this proved an excellent read. 4/5 stars out of 6.

December reading To try and bring reviews up to date before the end of the year, one post to cover all my December reading: a very enjoyable month! Brings me up to 84 books in total, a new calendar year high, very definitely a result of the pandemic. More details in my year review, at the start of my 2021 blog (yet to be posted at the time of writing). The Body, A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson **** I'm somewhat ambivalent about Bill Bryson or, at least, his books tend to divide into 2 distinct groups for me. On the one hand there are his very popular travel books, which I've never warmed to at all - I always feel that he's trying just a bit too hard to amuse (funny would be too strong). On the other there are his books examining a particular aspect of our knowledge, be it language, science or whatever. With these, the humour takes a back seat and he concentrates more on distilling a lot of information into a faily small space, and in readily understandable layman's terms. On the whole I enjoy these, and The Body, one of my book group choices this month, was no different: in a series of short snappy chapters Bryson progresses through the whole body, and provides some interesting insight in a thoroughly readable and enjoyable way. The downer is that, because those chapters are so short and snappy, he skims a lot and jumps around a lot, with the result that, unlike, say, Made in America, I also found this rather frustrating at times. Having said that, there was so much information, that I know my ancient brain can't retain it all, so I can see a fair amount of follow-up dipping in in future. Overall an enjoyable, and sometimes enlightening, read, but I would have liked rather fewer 'fun facts' and rather more depth and explanation in places. The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton **** I'm not usually a fan of short stories, but this collection of 15 Edith Wharton creations, proved an engrossing read. Strictly speaking, they are not all ghost stories - more a mix of the ghostly, supernatural and fairly earthly disturbing - but they were all characterised by strong sense of place and atmosphere, much of the disturbance being in the mind rather than anything specifically physical (I've been anything but impressed with any of the 'horror' that I've read in the past). Quite a high proportion were distinctly ambiguous in their outcome. This was read as a book group read and a number of the group did find this irritating, but uncharacteristically for me I enjoyed this aspect, it fitting in with the general tenor of the theme, making the stories closer to real life and perhaps even more disturbing. I also enjoyed Wharton's fairly modern style - it would have surprised me that these were all written in the earlier years of the twentieth century if I hadn't already known. Overall, a quick and thoroughly enjoyable read that fitted in well with the season. One of the group is an expert on MR James novels (she once had a perfect round in Mastermind on his stories as a specialist subject!), and I've been recommended those as, if anything, even better, so must give those a go. The stories have also encouraged me to get stuck more into Edith Wharton's other writing too - to date I've only ever read Ethan Frome, which, whilst a solid enough read, didn't grab me quite as much as these shorter efforts. A Lost Lady by Willa Cather ***** Willa Cather is an author who I only discovered through my Tour of the USA challenge (one book set in each state): a writer far better known in the States than here. Most of her books are set on the American plains - the pioneering American west to midwest - and A Lost Lady is no exception. It tells the story of the narrator Niel Herbert's fascination for the young wife of an ex-railroad pioneer, Marian Forrester, and his ultimate disillusionment. Cather's writing is, as ever, a model of unfussy lucidity - plot, setting, characters all beautifully developed with the minimum of waste; the book is less than 200 pages long. It is a reasonably straightforward metaphor for the end of the pioneering age and the unwelcome takeover of American capitalism. Introduced to Cather through the superb My Antonia, this is the third novel of hers I've read, and they have all been outstanding - definitely turning into one of my favourite authors! Wintering by Katherine May **** The author looks at how we handle winter, and how that can teach us lessons in dealing with more difficult times. It initially came over as some sort of 'new age', self-help style book, and I was ready to be disappointed, but with a focus more on the natural processes relating to winter, it's actually more natural history, a lot more interesting, and with some useful parallels drawn. Well written and absorbing, it read very easily too! The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey **** Tey's detective creation, Alan Grant, is laid up and bored in hospital with a broken leg. To occupy his mind, he follows up a conversation with a friend, and begins to investigate the mystery of the Princes in the Tower, and who killed them. In 1990 this was selected by the British Crime Writers' Association as the greatest mystery novel of all time. I wouldn't go so far as to say that (although I haven't got an alternative suggestion!), but it's certainly a fascinating read, and a quick one too (barely a couple of sittings). I'm not sure about the initial premise (the face doesn't fit!), but the evidence trail followed by Grant is thought provoking. However, not being an expert on the subject, I'd need to read other material before coming to a decision on how convincing Tey's arguments are; it's no great secret that she's firmly in the Ricardian camp. Having read this book, I'm encouraged to do so, and to read other Tey work as well. From Mull to the Cape by Richard Guise *** A fairly gentle, straightforward account of a cycle tour from the Mull of Kintyre to Cape Wrath. Guise actually rode it in three sections at different times of the year, but it's been stitched together to take one book. Interesting enough, without reaching for the stars. Sounds a great tour! Nathan Coulter by Wendell Berry ***** Berry is well known enough in the States to be just one of two living authors to be published by Library of America, but is barely read over here. Which is a pity, as his writing is superb, particularly in his sense of place (rural Kansas) and the evocation of a rural, farming, society. This is the first novel, chronologically, of his Port William series, barely 115 pages long, which I read almost entirely in one sitting, focusing on the childhold of the eponymous boy, told through 5 key episodes. Read as part of my tour of the USA, I definitely want to read more - both novels and the extensive sequence of short stories. Another big discovery - this tour is turning up quite a few! Wintering by Stephen Rutt *** Same title as an earlier book, very different subject: Stephen Rutt writes about his experiences watching, and his love of, geese, particularly the 5 wintering species in the UK. The book had great potential, and Rutt is a enjoyable read, but the whole book felt thin and under-cooked - there just wasn't enough depth here at all to satisfy. What was there was good, but definitely not a book to buy, rather borrow. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf ****** One of my favourite books by one of my favourite authors. Every time I read this (this was my fourth), I find something new. This time it was a rediscovery of her stream of consciousness style - it brought the world vividly to life, and took one ever closer to the characters, seeing the world entirely from their viewpoints. Woolf has a reputation for being a hard read. Whilst I can't disagree about some of her books (The Waves!), others, like Mrs Dalloway, leave me feeling totally consumed. Superb! The Hours by Michael Cunningham ****** I've been meaning to do this for a long time, read The Hours immediately after Mrs Dalloway, but it's taken several years for me to get around to it. Rewatching the film triggered off the idea again. The Hours was Woolf's original title for Mrs Dalloway, and Cunningham's three stranded novel takes the original (set in one June day) and re-examines it, one strand observing Woolf's efforts to get the book under way in June 1923, another looking at a modern day Mrs Dalloway in New York, in June 1999, and the third seeing the book's impact on a Los Angeles housewife, increasingly feeling trapped in an ultra-conventional marriage in June 1949 and seeking escape through her reading (or maybe even something more?). In different ways, all three strands are interwoven with both other strands and the original. I love the fllm - seen before reading the book - but the book provides so much more depth and clarity (and takes a slightly different tack in a few key moments). It is also superbly written, closely adopting Woolf's style. The two books make a brilliant partnership - superb Christmas reading, even if not quite the most conventional! A Maigret Christmas by Georges Simenon ***** Two novellas and a short story make up this volume, only the first actually being a Maigret story. That doesn't matter, the two companion pieces are as good as, possibly even better, than the title piece, with all the atmosphere of Simenon's full length novels (which are themselves never exactly long!). Paddington Abroad by Michael Bond ***** At least one Paddington book has featured each Christmas for the past few years - they may aimed at younger children, but they are so unutterably joyous and funny, that it seems a pity for them to be confined to just one part of one's life! This time, Paddington is off to cause chaos on holiday in Britanny. Episodes are ridiculously unlikely (especially the one where he joins in with the Tour de France!), but who cares, the whole premise is wondefully balmy after all? A great way to finish off a year which has been seriously short on laughs; Vive Paddington!

My book awards for 2020 This was a record year for me, with: 84 books completed (my previous highest being 80). This was partly down to more reading - all that lockdown - but also my tendency this year to focus on shorter books. After mid-March I was rarely in the mood to tackle anything particularly substantial, in spite of my liking for chunky reads, and my mean pages per book was down to just over 260 - in the high 200s in recent years previously. But that 84 gives me more than normal to choose from! Book cover. A clear winner here: Wing by Matthew Francis, design by the Faber team. Almost worth buying for the cover alone, the content, Francis's latest collection of poetry, was rather fine too, and a serious contender for the poetry award. See picture below. Publisher This is actually one of the hardest to choose this year, with at least 4 publishers high on my list. I'm going to plump for Slightly Foxed, their second consecutive win, originally set up to produce their quarterly literary magazine, but now also producing a lovely range of books, of which I have many. It's the whole package I love - the magazine, the books and the monthly podcast - my favourite. Also on the short list: Qunice Tree Press (publishers of all JL Carr's work, run by his family), Library of America (non-profit charity focusing on the greats of American literature) and Little Toller, mainly for the nature books. Audiobook I've only listened to half one so far, so no winner. Now if it had been 'favourite audio to do with books', then Slightly Foxed would have taken away a second award this year! Most read author Georges Simenon, as it has been every year for at least the past five, as I work my way slowly but most enjoyably through the full sequence, as published by Penguin in new translations. I'm now trying to read them in the original French, but still need the help of the translations! Recommended re-read. As this is just 'recommended' and not necessarily looking for a winner, I'm going to nominate two here. First off is A Month in the Country by JL Carr, my favourite book. Re-read for one of my book groups, and raved about by the whole group. The book is simply superb, funny, elegiac, thought-provoking, quirky, illuminating, and was, in my view, distinctly better than the Golding that beat it to the Booker Prize in 1983. It deservedly won the Guardian instead. An 'unknown' classic. Secondly, a pairing, to be read one after the other: first would be Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, to be followed by The Hours by Michael Cunningham. This was my third or fourth reading of Mrs D, and each time I see and appreciate a bit more - the writing is wondrous. Cunningham then takes the original and puts his own, equally involving, twist on it - I adore the film (one of my top three), but when I read the book as a follow-up, it blew me away. Not worth bothering with. Three books on the shortlist, but the winner is Gold by Chris Cleve. Pretentious, cliched, stereotyped, predictable, hopelessly over-hyped. Read this for a book group, otherwise I certainly wouldn't have finished it. Shortlisted: The House by Simon Lelic, and The Hundred Year Man who Climbed out of a Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.. Either could have won in previous years - again both book group reads - I wouldn't have chosen any of these for my own reading. Literary letdown A few books by highly rated authors disappointed this year, but several of them weren't really letdowns, just the fact I didn't like the book even though I understood why some people rated them. The most 'disappointing', if a reread can be as such, was Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad. Rereading it for a book group confirmed my initial diagnosis: so thin, so underwhelming,unsatisfactory on several key points, it felt like she'd dashed it off just to fulfill a contract or commission - but I knew that, so not sure it could be a 'letdown' as such. So the award, instead, goes to a new read, God In Ruins by Kate Atkinson. A marmite author at the best of times, this still felt such a letdown as it dragged on and on in one of the most overwritten and tedious narratives I've read in a while. The twist at the end was the final straw - a letdown if ever there was one. Illustrated book Charles Keeping's illustrations for the Charles Dickens series I have (Folio Society) are just perfect - maybe even better than the originals. So this award has to go to the Dickens I read this year, A Tale of Two Cities, a superb book in its own right, but definitely enhanced by the illustrations. Children's book I don't read many children's books, but I did try and thoroughly enjoy the classic The Little Grey Men by BB. If I'd read this as a child, I suspect it would rate amongst my favourites; whilst reading it as an adult it might not now reach those exalted heights, it was still an excellent, enchanting, read. Classic. Hopelessly difficult to choose. To help, I put Mrs Dalloway up for another, the Reread award. That still leaves a tricky field, but it has to be Emma (Jane Austen), another reread having seen the most recent film version (excellent, in spite of a too young George Knightley). Another book which grows on me every time I read it, the characterisations are sublime. Short stories I'm not a fan of short stories, so tend to avoid them. The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton, read for one of my book groups, taught me that this may not necessarily be a good idea. The group as a whole were mixed in their views, several keen short story readers almost disappointed, but I loved them, in some cases for the very reasons that the aficioinados did not - ambiguities, uncertainties, loose ends etc. Not all actual ghost stories by any means, they were, we were all agreed, very varied, especially in their setting. Good enough for an award, anyway! Literary character Agnes Shakespeare (nee Hathaway) in Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet. Wonderful characterisation in all her emotions. Poetry collection I don't read through many, if any, collections, preferring to dip in and out. I did read Wing through, and it is excellent, but it was up against one of my favourite poets on one of my favourite themes, so the award goes to Bird Poems by John Clare. The world seems to be rediscovering John Clare, and a good thing too! Funniest book I don't laugh at much in books, but it's hard to beat the guilelessness and slapstick of Paddington Bear, by Michael Bond: his books always make me laugh out loud, so it's got to be this year's read, Paddington Abroad, even more relevant given the crazy direction we're travelling. Biography Taking it that biography includes memoirs, diaries etc, then, if including reruns, it would probably be The Outrun by Amy Liptrot which has previously won awards. But I don't need to here because there is an excellent alternative: To War with Whitaker, the wartime diaries of Hermione Ranfurley. A remarkable woman at a remarkable time, right at the heart of the war effort in the Mediterranean, and the only British civilian working there. A gripping read. Environment My own award, to encompass travel, natural history, environmental science etc, a global label for my favourite area of reading - there aren't enough non-fiction awards for me, given that it represents a good half of my reading. For this, the winner is The Summer Isles by Philip Marsden, an account of his journey up the west coast of the British Isles from Plymouth to the Summer Isles. Non-fiction Julie Myerson's Home was a fascinating account of her investigations into the history of her family's house in South London. Loved the history, the journey, the human insight and learned much to help research our own! An honourable mention for David Reynolds' Island Stories, a new look, in the light of Brexit at how we British see and have seen ourselves. One of those books where you keep seeing lightbulbs going off as things click in your own understanding! An unexpectedly outstanding read. Author Jan Morris has long been one of my favourite authors. I marked her death this autumn by reading what was apparently her own favourite of her works (totalling over 40 volumes), Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere - a classic example of her style. A woman who led a fascinating life, writing consistently excellent books across a broad range of genres (although specialising in places). Book of the Year Quite often lately, this has gone to the Non-fiction award winner; I'm a bit surprised not to see a distinct 'fiction' award, or is the implication that fiction will normally come out on top? It's often the other way round in my reading year. Fortunately, this year, my book of the year is also my fiction read of the year. This was, perhaps surprisingly, one of the easiest categories to decide. I've reread quite a few 6-star (favourite) books this year, but only one new read has been awarded the full ranking: Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. This was a humdinger from start to finish, and deservedly won the Women's Prize. For me, the great mystery was how on earth the Booker jury didn't even shortlist, immediately undermining any confidence I had in their decision making. I don't think a novel has so engaged me emotionally for years - the examination of the relationship beween William Shakespeare (never named) and his wife Agnes/Anne was revealing enough, but the portrayal of Agnes's grief was totally consuming. Not just a book of the year, this is one of the best novels I've read over many years. A few other mentions:that didn't quite make awards, but strongly added to my reading enjoyment this year: Mr Loverman confirmed my growing addiction to Bernardine Evaristo's writing (author of my novel of 2019); Nathan Coulter (challenger for literary character award) signalled the discovery towards the end of the year of an author who already threatens to become a favourite, Wendell Berry. All The Pretty Horses (Cormac McCarthy) did the same at the start. HG Wells' War of the Worlds was, however, perhaps the biggest surprise of the year: I never expected it to feel quite as modern and almost cutting edge as it did, even given the 19th century setting.

I've started putting my list together, but there's still a week left of the year, and 2-3 books to be read between now and then! What I will say at this point is that I'm having more trouble choosing in more categories than in any previous year. One of the only categories that is easy is book of the year: head and shoulders above anything else I've read this year! To be revealed! May be your only one, but would still be a contender in a pile of rereads - really enjoyed this. Most definitely yes! I read these alongside my (then) tweenager son - buying the books at midnight and then sitting down together next day to read them pretty much each in one sitting. One of the later ones we bought in an Ayr bookshop the night before flying out from Prestwick, and we were glued to the books on the plane! One of the great parental experiences. Looks interesting. I can strongly recommend both Roland Huntford's biography of Shackleton (I've yet to read Michael Smith's, but have heard much good about it), and Frank Worsley's own account, Shackleton's Boat Journey, of the voyage from Elephant Island to South Georgia - totally gripping.

Far more creative than anything I'd have come up with; i especially like the last one! Two more books finished over the last couple of days, both rereads: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (who else?!) and A Maigret Christmas by Georges Simenon. Every time I read the former (this is my third time) it grows in my regard: it's simply brilliant. It's a 6-star favourite. The Maigret is excellent, especially the second of the three stories, so earns itself a 5-star rating.

Reviews to bring me up to the end of November (yes, I know it's nearly Christmas!). Some consistenly enjoyable reading. The Covid Catastrophe by Richard Horton **** This book may be only 130 pages long, but it packs the punch of a volume several times larger. Written by the editor-in-chief of The Lancet, and sub-titled "What's gone wrong and how to stop it happening again" it is a devastating critique of the approach taken by the majority of western democratic governments and their failure to prepare, both short and long term, and to learn from those with more experience and from their own simulations (eg Exercise Cygnus in 2016). He is particularly critical of both Johnson and Trump, not afraid to call the former either a liar or 'guilty of misconduct in public office', but makes it clear that they are not solely to blame, the secrecy and failures of SAGE for instance being both critiqued and contrasted with the transparency and activities of independent SAGE. Equally contrasting is the coverage of countries who have been more successful, almost all having taken lessons on board from previous outbreaks experienced by themselves or others, and this does provide a more positive side to the narrative. The only problem with this book is that there is so much in such a short space, that one wants to quote from almost every page. Suffice to say that it is a thoroughly worthwhile read, and one that we would do well to learn from. Whether our present government will is something only time will tell, but the portents are sadly not good. Orison for a Curlew by Horatio Clare **** Clare was commissioned to write a book about the slender-billed curlew, now suspected to be extinct after years of being criticially endangered. Given that it's almost impossible that he's likely to find one, he decided instead to interview those throughout Eastern Europe who have been most involved with efforts to find and conserve it. The result is a book that isn't really what I initially expected, and sounds a bit abstruse, but proved to be a fascinating, and beautifully written, insight into the challenges and issues for conservation in a part of the world where it's very much a minority, low-priority, activity; relevant and topical. Injury Time by Beryl Bainbridge **** Classic Bainbridge: lean, taut writing; vivid, slightly off the wall narrative: Edward is married to Helen but having an affair with Binney. The lovers are holding their first dinner party, and Edward has promised not be late home. Surprise, surprise, things don't go quite according to plan, and events spiral out of control. It's sharp, often funny, and, something I didn't realise when I read it, based on an affair of the author's (the setting is apparently an accurate reflection of her own home), although the events are, fortunately, fictional! A writer who I am gradually becoming addicted to. Island Stories by David Reynolds ***** So often, Brexit fans have referred to our 'island story', the cosy sort of story projected in HE Marshall's 1905 eponymous children's book. Reynolds takes a different slant, examining 5 themes that contribute to a twisted thread of interwoven narratives that more accurately delineate British identity: Decline, Europe, Britain, Empire, Taking Control of Our Past. As history books go this is pretty short, barely 250 pages, but it's a model of incisive analysis, and one of those books where on pretty much every page I found something that made me either sit up and think, or mutter 'Oh, I see!' There's always a couple of nuggets that stick out at the end of such a read, and for me it was when, in Decline, and discussing the 'Make Britain Great Again' mantra, he suggested that what was actually the exception and remarkable was the fact that our island actually dominated world history for any time at all, and that, rather than needing to be 'great again', where we are in the world is actually pretty well off, certainly as good as or better than geography or size might suggest: the 'decline' hasn't been a 'decline', more a reversion to something closer to realistic expectations! Later in the same chapter, he discusses our 'heritage', a discussion best summed up near the end of said chapter: "In various ways, therefore, heritage is in danger of becoming a substitute for history in public awareness of Britain's past." I've come across one or two of these arguments before, but I've not yet seen them syhthesized so successfully. Overall, an easily followed, flowing, excellent read. This was a library book, but it's actually one of those where I almost want my own copy, as it definitely needs further dipping into and referring back to, maybe even a full reread in the not too distant future!